Archive for category: Homeland Center News

Bryan Richards always arrives a half hour early every morning for his 11am – 7pm shift.

“I look forward to coming to work,” he said. “I’m ready to go. I’m ready to serve.”

Bryan joined Homeland Center’s maintenance department in April 2023, quickly finding his place on the team that keeps Homeland’s rooms comfortable and livable for the residents.

Bryan calls himself a jack-of-all-trades, with diverse professional and personal experiences from nursing to Civil War reenacting. From a life that started in adversity, he has carved a philosophy of self-sufficiency, tolerance, and faith.

Bryan grew up in Johnstown, the second of six children. After his youngest sibling was born, his mother was diagnosed with cancer. She died at age 31. Bryan, who had been her caregiver, was 12 years old.

By then, the family was living in Lebanon, and soon, the children went to different homes. Bryan lived in a Berks County, Bethany Childrens Home for Orphans until he was a high school junior when he went to a foster home. At 18, he left foster care to live with his godfather, a pastor who had been a father figure.

“I learned everything you could possibly learn from him – cooking, basic life skills,” Bryan said.

Early in his career, Bryan worked for Kinney’s shoes and modeled for JC Penney Catalog in advertisement. In 2005, he earned his nurse’s aide certificate and spent the next 15 years working in hospice settings.

“When you’re doing care for people and you’re around them constantly, they’re like family,” he said. “I always treated them like family, I joined their journey and they always treated me like family.”

But as Bryan will tell you, he feels everything deeply, and after a time, the challenges of hospice became too much. While deciding on his next steps, he worked at the historic Paxtang Cemetery, groundskeeping and digging graves.

“When I say I’m a jack-of-all-trades, I’ve gotten my hands dirty in many things I was willing to learn with,” he said. “I did the work with dignity and passion. I do that in all my work. I try to go above and beyond.”

He then did maintenance for a Lebanon County nursing home before joining Homeland. Here, his primary duties include caring for residents’ rooms. There are TVs to repair, light bulbs to replace, and pictures to hang.

“You do things like that, and they just think the world of you,” he said. “I love to serve people. I’m a people person. It makes you feel good that you did something nice for somebody, and they appreciate it.”

It’s a fun and welcoming work atmosphere, he adds. Everyone pitches in.

Outside of work, Bryan is just as busy. He and his partner live in a circa-1900 home in Steelton filled with antiques. He does woodworking gardening and plays with their two adorable fur baby poodle mixes, Aspen and Kali.

“I just love it,” he said. “I’m an old soul.”

His roots in reenacting began when he was 19 years old and saw a troop of Civil War reenactors – now called “living historians” – in a parade.

“History is important, so we’re not doomed to repeat it,” he said. “A lot of times, we do, but we try not to. They don’t teach our kids what the Civil War is about anymore. That’s where we come in and educate them, and they think it’s interesting.”

Today, he belongs to the 93rd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, which one of his distant relatives had fought in during the Civil War. He currently is an active member of the Sons of The Union Veterans Of the Civil War.  He didn’t know initially that his great-great-grandfather, Steven Lance, served in the 28th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment. And many numerous relatives.

Not only that, but he had a relative that fought in the battle of Cedar Creek, which today is the only battlefield where reenactors may skirmish on the original grounds. Bryan attends the annual reenactment there, sensing the ghosts of the past all around.

“You can feel the emotion,” he said. “I would get that feeling, and the chills. I would close my eyes and try to envision what they would have felt. It’s an emotional time.”

Bryan also bakes apple pies and peach cobblers. His sisters always ask him to make the pierogies he learned from his mother.

“I used to sit in the kitchen and watch her, and that’s how I learned,” he said.

His mother’s example has reminded him, throughout life, to “do something for yourself.”

“Move on, because my mother would want us to do that and be productive members of society,” he said.

Bryan doesn’t retire for another 21 years, but he hopes to make Homeland his “home away from home” for the rest of his career.

“It’s a small nonprofit. It’s family,” he said. “Everybody knows everybody around here. Most importantly, it’s about the people who live here. They deserve our respect because they’ve lived their lives.”

When Jennifer Murray gives tours to potential personal care residents and their families, she shares Homeland Center’s amazing 156-year history of devotion to the community.

“We’re not going anywhere,” she said. “A lot of times, people like our homey feel. It’s cozy and comfortable here. When I’m doing tours, everyone stops and says hello, and that makes visitors feel welcome. It’s all genuine. That’s how it is all the time around here.”

Jen’s role has expanded since she first joined Homeland in 2016. With a career in nursing – the only thing she ever wanted to do – and 11 years in administration, she stepped in as Director of Personal Care in 2017.

Now, she is in the dual role of Director of Personal Care and Director of HomeCare. Like the Homeland Center personal care staff, the CNAs of Homeland HomeCare help clients through their daily tasks, ensuring they take their medications, eat right, and get any help needed with bathing, dressing, or other needs.

Maintaining Homeland’s stellar reputation for quality across a new front isn’t hard because the foundation of quality “was already there,” Jen said.

“The staff we have in place are exceptional in HomeCare and Personal Care,” she said. “The HomeCare clients absolutely love their caregivers. They care. They get involved. They will let us know if something seems wrong. Their relationships with families are so good that the families will often call the caregiver to tell them that a loved one has been hospitalized before they call the HomeCare office. That’s the level of trust they have in the staff.”

Speaking of trust, Jen is the person you’ve seen in Homeland Center’s television commercials. She is proud to raise awareness of Homeland’s exceptional care, whether at Homeland Center or in clients’ homes.

Her dual role lets her give inquiring callers more options – perhaps letting them know about home care if a loved one isn’t ready for a facility or pointing out available personal care suites for someone who can no longer live at home.

Once in Homeland, residents flourish. Jen works closely with the maintenance department, housekeeping department, and the dietary staff to uphold living and dining standards. She also collaborates regularly with the activities department, cooking up a roster of fun that keeps residents engaged. For Assisted Living Week 2023, Homeland held a fashion show, and residents’ family members got in the spirit, wearing everything from a Rosie the Riveter costume to Hawaiian shirts and leis.

“I love that our families get so involved,” said Jen. “If we invite them to things, tons of family members show up. I’ve never worked anywhere else where families were so involved. Our staff love the residents so much that it’s not work to do special things for them.”

Outside of Homeland, Jen and her husband enjoy traveling to regional sights such as the Poconos, Niagara Falls, and the Finger Lakes. A Florida fishing trip her husband dreams of, postponed by COVID, is back on for next year.

Jen also loves to cook, and she carries on her childhood tradition of Sunday dinners with family, including her daughter and son, who recently returned home from military service.

With her love of decorating, she also brings seasonal cheer to her office in Homeland’s original 19th-century building. Fall décor includes pumpkin figurines and a plaque saying, “I love fall most of all.”

“Fall is my favorite season,” she said. “I like the cooler weather. I love everything pumpkin spice. I just love all of the smells and colors of fall.”

Jen can say, with complete honesty, that work is fun. She carries on the Homeland tradition of treating staff respectfully, recognizing that they have family and obligations outside of work. In turn, the staff focuses on the residents’ needs.

It all comes back to that word — trust.

“Our families trust that their loved ones are going to get the care they need,” she said.

“I’ve had people come up to me and just say, ‘Trust,’ because they hear me say it in the commercials. People see our name, and that’s what they will think of,” Jen said. “You want to have someplace where you can trust the staff and know your loved ones will be cared for. It’s part of Homeland’s legacy.”